Pete Domenici Jr.
Republican gubernatorial candidate compares Martinez’s staying on job to Richardson’s campaigning for president ‘on the New Mexico taxpayers’ dollars’
Pete Domenici Jr. on Wednesday said opponent Susana Martinez isn’t doing enough to set herself apart from the “corrupt” Richardson/Denish administration because she’s campaigning for governor while continuing to draw a salary as Dona Ana County’s district attorney.
Domenici first criticized Martinez during a radio interview on 770 KKOB-AM in Albuquerque, then highlighted it in a news release.
In the release, he compared Martinez’s actions to what Gov. Bill Richardson did in 2007 – running for president while also continuing in his job as the head of the state’s executive branch. Domenici characterized what Richardson did as campaigning “on the New Mexico taxpayers’ dollars.”
By contrast, Domenici, an attorney, said he has “drastically cut back on his own law practice” while he campaigns for governor. He said taking a leave of absence is “the appropriate way to avoid any appearance of or potential for impropriety.”
“Ms. Martinez should take a leave of absence without taxpayers’ compensation, repay Doña Ana taxpayers for the compensation she has received while maintaining a full-time campaign for governor, or explain her decision to have the taxpayers pay her while she is running a full-time campaign for governor,” Domenici said.
“Republicans need to set the example rather than be part of the problems we are trying to clean up,” he said.
Martinez spokesman Danny Diaz responded by calling it “unfortunate” that Domenici “has chosen to launch a negative, personal and baseless attack.” He said Martinez’s record as a prosecutor “is very well-established and not something a drive-by smear can change.”
Others have kept their jobs while campaigning
Susana Martinez
Martinez said recently on the same radio program that she’s often away from the office five or six days a week to campaign for governor.
But she’s not the first to do that.
In fact, the Republican Party’s current candidate for attorney general, Matt Chandler, is doing the same thing right now. He’s also a district attorney – and staying on that job while he campaigns for AG. In addition, then-Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, a Republican, stayed on that job while he was running for Congress in 2008.
And Domenici’s own father – like most other full-time elected officials – ran for re-election several times while also keeping his full-time job as a U.S. senator.
Diaz’s statement pointed to that.
“Domenici’s ill-advised actions only benefit Diane Denish, as his misguided attack will now be aimed at previous and current Republican candidates by the Democrats,” Diaz said. “Susana Martinez will continue to run an issue-oriented campaign focusing on how best to bring real change to New Mexico after eight years of the failed Richardson/Denish Administration.”
But can Democrats really direct such an attack at Republicans without pointing the finger back at themselves? Denish, the Democratic Party’s gubernatorial candidate, is also keeping her job as the state’s lieutenant governor while she runs for governor.
And, as another example, Public Regulation Commission Chairman Sandy Jones, a Democrat, is campaigning for state land commissioner while staying on the job at the PRC.
Update, 8:10 a.m.
It’s been pointed out to me that Republican Land Commissioner candidate Jim Jackson has taken a leave of absence from his job at the land office to campaign for land commissioner.